The Peacemakers

  Going back to when the ‘word’ was passed down orally, mind-altering substances have been mixed in with religion.  In the second millennium BC, Indo-Aryan tribes partook of a fermented drink called ‘soma’ that R. Gordon Wasson postulated had the "fly agaric" mushroom sprinkled in.  Whatever was in it, the Vedas tells us it was a drink the gods themselves drank, which made the worshippers feel closer to their deities.  They even named their drink after one of the gods, “Soma.”   Or maybe their god was named after the drink.   Either way, they were drinking a conduit to their god.  These ancient gods were wilder than the typical concept of God today.  “Soma” (the god) would have been comfortable hanging out with the Greek party god, Dionysus, and his Roman counterpart, Bacchus.  When reading descriptions of Dionysus ceremonies, I picture a rave minus the glow sticks.  There was dancing and drinking and, yes, the ingesting of psychoactive potions. There was over-indulgence and

  "Proto Dagg’s novel is a propulsive first-person present-tense tale filled with action-packed intrigue and thrilling capers, like combining the world-building of Neuromancer with the drug-fueled political commentary of Brave New World ."   Michelle Hogmire ✌✌✌  Following a period of violent unrest, the city of Terminus is divided into color-coded zones - each block outside of the green zone brings citizens deeper into unguarded chaos. At an exclusive green-zone club, Matt receives a cryptic invitation to attend a secret ceremony in an abandoned church in the red zone. After taking a hallucinogen called “Peace,” he has a liberating, near-death experience. A young shaman/chemist seems to be behind the entheogen that is used at similar ceremonies popping up around Terminus. As the movement grows across the zones, Peace threatens the powers who control Terminus, and Matt finds himself at the center of a struggle for the soul of the city.   Amazon